Thursday, 10 September 2015

3 Museums - 2 Coventrys and a Cosford

So I haven't posted in an age, largely because I haven't had very much to say! But over the last few weeks I've been to 3 local (ish) air musuems: Midland Air Museum, Classic Air Force Airbase, and RAF Cosford, so I thought I'd do a review of sorts.

Although fairly small, this place packs in as much as it can with the space and is really worth a visit. It houses a variety of aircraft, from fighters to bombers to civilian aircraft. What I particularly like about this place, is that you can have a look inside a few of the aircraft, including a Vulcan. This sets it apart from other aviation museums I've been to as it makes a bit more interactive, clambering up ladders into cockpits!

This is a fantastic collection of old aircraft, a lot of which are not only airworthy, but still operating pleasure flights! I previously had a flight on their DeHavilland Dragon Rapide in 2012, here's a post about it. I've also been to airbase before, back in 2011, again here's a post. The museum is now free, everyone there is a volunteer, working to keep the aircraft airworthy or at least in good condition! Unfortunately though, the museum has moved out of the building it was in and is now in a cabin on the apron, and sadly it seem as though the museum may be shutting down (although this will be a slow process it will be around for while yet!). Round the corner from Airbase is restaurant, converted from a DC-6, which I visited here. Like I said at the end of that post, with the 2 museums (both nice set ups!), the diner and even pleasure flights, Coventry airport could be a real tourist and enthusiast attraction.

A nice scene from Airbase a few years back!

A nice bonus of Airbase is that you get a great view airside - here are a couple of BAe ATP's and in the background, a visiting Yak!

The RAF museum at Cosford is a huge site spanning 4 hangars, containing aircraft from WW1 through to modern fighters. Although you can't go inside any aircraft, it's great museum for people more interested in the historical side of aviation, with exhibits themed around the world wars and the cold war. They also have a few unique treats, such as a TSR2 prototype and the 1:1 scale Airfix model of a Spitfire made for James May's toy stories! Here's a few pics: